Monday, November 10, 2014

Customer Pic

This pic is from a good customer with a big brown. He caught this on his Carpenter Bros 8' 5 weight. It measured 24" and he had to have a fellow fisherman help him land it because it wouldn't fit in his net.  I had this happen to me this summer on the Henry's Fork. I went up to the Trouthunter the next day and bought a new net. It was a hard decision for me because they aren't cheap.




Tuesday, October 28, 2014

So It Begins

The Carpenter Bros. catch their first fish on a bamboo rod. They have landed many fish, but never entirely on their own like today.
The 8'5" 4 weight was a little much for these perch. It made for a quick landing and release!




Friday, August 22, 2014

8'5" 3 piece 3 wt

This will be the first 3 piece 3 wt I have sold. I have toyed around with them for several years, but always using alternative material ferrules. This rod has Hariki ferrules and does an excellent job with them. Their lower weights help balance the rod better.
This rod has about the only upgrade I offer and that is the cork centered reel seat. I plan on making more of the 3 piece rods this year. I especially want one for myself!










Tuesday, August 19, 2014

New Quad Leaving Soon

Here are a few pics of a 8'3" 4 weight quad about to go out the doors. With the cork reel seat it has a finished weight of 3.25 oz.

I will be starting my fall orders in about a week.






Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Great Article

A couple of weeks ago a customer sent me this write up from a rod builder/designer named Paul Brown. My customer and his friends are collectors of Mr. Browns rods because they feel his rods are some of the best rods ever built. I have read this write up several times and will continue to do so over the next few weeks. Once I feel like I have a good grip on all of the information he is presenting I am going to fill it right next to E. C. Powell's article of fly rod design. I personally feel like these two articles might be in the top five ever written on the subject. They don't throw a lot of numbers at you and they don't build a word maze for you to navigate. Its just simple information that holds true.





Saturday, August 2, 2014

Customer Pics

Here are a couple of pics from a customer who was visiting the Madison River last week. The pics are of an 8'1" 3/4 weight. One thing you might notice on the rod is the varnish on the flat side of the grip. What happens is when you varnish next to cork, it tends to soak up the varnish. What most builders do is then sand the cork to give it a cleaner look. I personally think it gives it more of a unique look. One might say its an artist's touch. However, I do sand it off if the customer requests it.





Wednesday, July 30, 2014

A Few Pics of Harriman State Park

These were all taken at Harriman State Park. This moose calf and its mother were regulars outside our cabin in the mornings.






Monday, July 28, 2014

Fishing on the Ranch

Here are a couple of pics of myself fishing on the Harriman Ranch. Pictures are by Yudai.





Friday, July 18, 2014

Akimaru and the Bamboo Rod Ferrule

While on my trip to the Henry's Fork I was able to spend a lot of time with Japanese builder Akimaru. For those that don't know who he is, he is very well known in Japan. He has written numerous books about fly fishing. I believe this was his 32nd year coming to America to fish the Henry's Fork. Aki is well known for going around Japan telling the fly fisherman about the Henry's Fork and what a "Holy Grail" it is. He also runs a school to teach others how to build bamboo rods. My last post talked about one of his student's Masa. One of the requirements to graduate from his school is that the student has to come to America with him and catch a 20" trout on a rod that they have built.
Last year he introduced a bamboo ferrule for his rods. To say its simple and sleek is an understatement. While he was here this summer he delivered several of these rods to customers fishing the Henry's Fork. These rods received glowing reviews from their new owners. These rods aren't for the "light in the wallet" customers if you know what I mean.
He is currently working on a 3 piece version of this rod. Aki had the prototype with him on this trip and it was a stellar rod. In the first picture Aki is casting a Carpenter Bros. 8'3" 4 weight quad while we were staying at the Harriman Ranch.






Saturday, July 12, 2014

A New Rod for Me

I still like to get new bamboo fly rods. I acquired a new rod this summer on my trip to the Henry's Fork. My friend and fellow rod maker Masaki Ishizeki makes rods under the Genten name in Japan. He is one of the few builders that make rods out of Watake instead of Tonkin cane. I wouldn't say Watake is better than Tonkin, but just different. It provides the material to make a full flexing rod, yet light and responsive.

The rod I received was a Claymore X. It was an 8' 4 weight. This is Maza's most popular rod here in America. He sold several of them last year at our Henry's Fork gathering and also this year. One thing that I was very impressed with on his rods was his new carbon fiber ferrules. Mine were large and unattractive, while his were small and stunning. He only charges an extra $100 for that option, which here in the US would probably be a major up-charge.

My rod is the top rod in the bottom photograph. The lower rod is that of another Japanese builder Yudai Mochizuki.

www.genten-rod.com









Monday, July 7, 2014

2 Quads that went out the door

Here are some pics of two quads that went out the door a few weeks back. They are hollow built and weigh right at 3.1 oz.







Thursday, July 3, 2014

Just Returned

I just returned from a Month fishing the Henry's Fork area. I have a lot of stories and pictures to share. I will be describing them all on here over the next few weeks.

The couple of pics I am showing here are of myself fishing my 8'1" 4 weight. This is quickly becoming my go to rod, at least this rod was until I sold it to another fisherman. I plan on making a large lot of these rods this fall. I have posted this picture of me with a 21" rainbow near the Pinehaven subdivision. This area lies right below the Harriman ranch and holds some big fish. I caught two fish over 20" that afternoon and the rod did superb. One thing I want you to notice is the even bend throughout the rod. In some rods there will be one area that breaks down more than another. The bend in this taper is even through out.

I still have a couple of 8'3" 4 weight quads that are available to sell. These are hollow built rods that weigh right around 3.10 oz. That is very light for a rod that length.





Monday, May 26, 2014

8'3" 4 weight Quad

Here is a couple of pics of a quad that will be going out this week. I will be posting more pics as the week goes on of other rods going out too. I wish I had some fancy old fly fishing books and hard to find Hardy reels to use in the pics with my rods, but I don't. Maybe I can ask one of the popular rod dealers if I can borrow theirs. I guess those things help sell rods. :-)





Saturday, May 24, 2014

New Rod Going to K and K Flyfishers

I have an 8'2" 5 weight going to one of the local fly shops today. It has nicely flamed cane with lt. olive wraps and crimson tipping. This rod does have Hariki ferrules. There are a couple of small blemishes on this rod so it will be discounted.

http://www.kkflyfisher.com




Monday, April 28, 2014

Update

Things are as busy as they have ever been around the shop! I have a series of quads going out over the next few weeks. I will be posting pictures of some of them so check back. I also have the first 3 piece rod going out.

Right now my wait time is about 1 year. Just depending on what you want and if I already have one on order. Occasionally, I will have an extra rod for sale. I will post them on my blog if they last that long. I have been very blessed to have a thriving rod business.

Here is a pic of a happy customer on the Davidson River.




Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Carpenter Bros Update


I will be at K and K flyfishers fly shop this Saturday talking about bamboo fly rods. I will also be delivering a 8'5" 4 weight for them to sell. Its a blonde rod with Hariki ferrules, Box Elder reel seat and a medium fast action. As always I use 5 star cork for my grips. The finish on this rod is somewhat of a matte finish at about a 50 degree gloss level. This rod is hollow built as are all of my rods. Here is a link to the K and K flyfishers link. This rod will be on sale through them Saturday only for $1100. After that day it will go back up to my current price of $1400. SOLD! It lasted about an hour :-) 

http://www.kkflyfisher.com/





I also just finished a new demo rod. This is the 8'1" 3 weight. I will have it this Saturday with me for people to cast. I will also be in Island Park for the month of June so if you are going to be out there give me a shout and we can go fishing.



Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Busy!!!

I have been very busy in the shop lately. You can see the rods that are in the works.




Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Rod FS (8'5" 3/4 weight) SOLD

I currently have one rod for sale. This is a 8'5" 3/4 weight and is hollow built. The rod has a nice medium to medium fast action and can be made fast by switching to a 3 wt WF line. I personally like using a 4 wt DT line on it. The reel seat is Koa and the ferrules are Hariki. I am asking $800 for this rod, which is a one tip rod. I do have another tip for it, but have not put guides on it yet. This would be available for an extra $200.




Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Flaming

I have posted pics before of flaming, so here is another. This picture is off what "lightly" flamed cane looks like. At first look you might think this turns out to be what is called "tiger" flamed, but its not. This cane will be filed and sanded. When this process is done the darker stripes will be gone. The heating process seems to take out some of the variation as well.

I started my spring and summer orders this past week. I will be spending about a month out on the Henry's Fork in Idaho. I really hope to spend some quality time inside Yellowstone Park. I have fished in the park numerous times, but never off the beaten path. I would like to do that this year. I will also be spending about 2 weeks with the family in Colorado right after that. So the point of this paragraph is that I will be out of the shop most of the summer. I will probably take a break once back for about a month and when August rolls around hit the shop. This doesn't push my orders back, because I have figured that into my estimations when orders are placed. I think most builders take a break periodically.

I am still working very hard on fiberglass ferrules. As I told a customer last week, "if it was easy, everyone would be doing it". I don't know really what the weight savings will be right now. I don't see a huge difference between that and the Hariki's I am using, but will wait to make that final determination once I can produce good looking fiberglass ferrules. What I am planning on right now is that I will use them on larger rods (5 wts and up) to start with. To get the fiberglass to conform to the diameters needed for 3 and 4 wts is extremely difficult!!! Again, the weight savings for those lighter lined rods is not that much. I believe the real benefit will be at the larger rods.

Right now my wait time is about a year. The next order that comes in will have a delivery date of Christmas this year.